[Illustration: A TAPIRO PYGMY.
[_Frontispiece._]
PYGMIES & PAPUANS
THE STONE AGE TO-DAY
IN DUTCH NEW GUINEA
BY
A. F. R. WOLLASTON
AUTHOR OF “FROM RUWENZORI TO THE CONGO”
WITH APPENDICES BY
W. R. OGILVIE-GRANT, A. C. HADDON, F.R.S.
AND SIDNEY H. RAY
_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS_
NEW YORK
STURGIS & WALTON
COMPANY
1912
PRINTED BY
WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED
LONDON AND BECCLES
_TO
ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE, O.M.
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED_
PREFACE
The Committee who organised the late expedition to Dutch New Guinea,
paid me the high compliment of inviting me to write an account of our
doings in that country. The fact that it is, in a sense, the official
account of the expedition has precluded me—greatly to the advantage of
the reader—from offering my own views on the things that we saw and
on things in general. The country that we visited was quite unknown
to Europeans, and the native races with whom we came in contact were
living in so primitive a state that the second title of this book
is literally true. The pygmies are indeed one of the most primitive
peoples now in existence.
Should any find this account lacking in thrilling adventure, I will
quote the words of a famous navigator, who visited the coasts of New
Guinea more than two hundred years ago:—“It has been Objected against
me by some, that my Accounts and Descriptions of Things are dry and
jejune, not filled with variety of pleasant Matter, to divert and
gratify the Curious Reader. How far this is true, I must leave to the
World to judge. But if I have been exactly and strictly careful to
give only _True_ Relations and Descriptions of Things (as I am sure
I have;) and if my Descriptions be such as may be of use not only to
myself, but also to others in future Voyages; and likewise to such
readers at home as are desirous of a Plain and Just Account of the
true Nature and State of the Things described, than of a Polite and
Rhetorical Narrative: I hope all the Defects in my Stile will meet with
an easy and ready Pardon.”
To Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace, who has allowed me to inscribe this
volume to him as a small token of admiration for the first and greatest
of the Naturalists who visited New Guinea, my most sincere thanks are
due.
To Mr. W. R. Ogilvie-Grant, Dr. A. C. Haddon, and Mr. Sidney Ray, who
have not only assisted me with advice but have contributed the three
most valuable articles at the end of this volume, I can only repeat my
thanks, which have been expressed elsewhere.
To my fellow-members of the expedition I would like to wish further
voyages in more propitious climates.
A.F.R.W.
LONDON,
_May, 1912_.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE vii
INTRODUCTION xix
CHAPTER I
_The British Ornithologists’ Union—Members of the
Expedition—Voyage to Java—Choice of Rivers—Prosperity
of Java—Half-castes—Obsequious Javanese—The
Rijst-tafel—Customs of the Dutch—Buitenzorg
Garden—Garoet_ 1
CHAPTER II
_Expedition leaves Java—The “Nias”—Escort—Macassar—Raja
of Goa—Amboina—Corals and Fishes—Ambonese
Christians—Dutch Clubs—Dobo_ 13
CHAPTER III
_New Guinea—Its Position and Extent—Territorial
Divisions—Mountain Ranges—Numerous Rivers—The Papuans—The
Discovery of New Guinea—Early Voyagers—Spanish and
Dutch—Jan Carstensz—First Discovery of the Snow
Mountains—William Dampier in the “Roebuck”—Captain Cook
in the “Endeavour”—Naturalists and later Explorers_ 21
CHAPTER IV
_Sail from the Aru Islands—Sight New Guinea—Distant
Mountains—Signal Fires—Natives in Canoes—A British
Flag—Natives on Board—Their Behaviour—Arrival at
Mimika River—Reception at Wakatimi—Dancing and
Weeping—Landing Stores—View of the Country—Snow
Mountains—Shark-fishing—Making the Camp—Death of W.
Stalker_ 35
CHAPTER V
_Arrival of our Ambonese—Coolie Considerations—Canoes
of the Natives—Making Canoes—Preliminary Exploration of
the Mimika—Variable Tides—Completing the Camp—A Plague
of Flies—Also of Crickets—Making “Atap”—Trading with the
Natives—Trade Goods_ 50
CHAPTER VI
_Difficulties of Food—Coolies’ Rations—Choice
of Provisions—Transporting Supplies up the
Mimika—Description of the River—A Day’s Work—Monotonous
Scenery—Crowned Pigeons—Birds of Paradise and
Others—Snakes, Bees, and other Creatures—Rapids and Clear
Water—The Seasons—Wind—Rain—Thunderstorms—Halley’s Comet_ 65
CHAPTER VII
_Exploration of the Kapare River—Obota—Native
Geography—River Obstructions—Hornbills and
Tree Ducks—Gifts of Stones—Importance of Steam
Launch—Cultivation of Tobacco—Sago Swamps—Manufacture of
Sago—Cooking of Sago—The Dutch Use of Convict Labour_ 82
CHAPTER VIII
_Description of Wakatimi—The Papuan House—Coconut
Palms—The Sugar Palm—Drunkenness of the Natives—Drunken
Vagaries—Other Cultivation—The Native Language—No
Interpreters—The Numerals—Difficulties of
Understanding—Names of Places—Local Differences of
Pronunciation_ 95
CHAPTER IX
_The Papuans of
Wakatimi—Colour—Hair—Eyes—Nose—Tattooing—Height—Dress—Widows’
Bonnets—Growth of Children—Preponderance of Men—Number
of Wives—Childhood—Swimming and other Games—Imitativeness
of Children—The Search for Food—Women as Workers—Fishing
Nets—Other Methods of Fishing—An Extract from Dampier_ 109
CHAPTER X
_Food of the Papuans—Cassowaries—The Native Dog—Question
of Cannibalism—Village Headman—The Social System of the
Papuans—The Family—Treatment of Women—Religion—Weather
Superstitions—Ceremony to avert a Flood—The Pig—A Village
Festival—Wailing at Deaths—Methods of Disposal of the
Dead—No Reverence for the Remains—Purchasing Skulls_ 124
CHAPTER XI
_Papuans’ Love of Music—Their Concerts—A Dancing
House—Carving—Papuans as Artists—Cat’s Cradle—Village
Squabbles—The Part of the Women—Wooden and Stone
Clubs—Shell Knives and Stone Axes—Bows and Arrows—Papuan
Marksmen—Spears—A most Primitive People—Disease—Prospects
of their Civilisation_ 141
CHAPTER XII
_The Camp at Parimau—A Plague of Beetles—First Discovery
of the Tapiro Pygmies—Papuans as Carriers—We visit the
Clearing of the Tapiro—Remarkable Clothing of Tapiro—Our
Relations with the Natives—System of Payment—Their
Confidence in Us—Occasional Thefts—A Customary
Peace-offering—Papuans as Naturalists_ 155
CHAPTER XIII
_Visit of Mr. Lorentz—Arrival of Steam Launch—A
Sailor Drowned—Our Second Batch of Coolies—Health of
the Gurkhas—Dayaks the Best Coolies—Sickness—Arrival
of Motor Boat—Camp under Water—Expedition moves to
Parimau—Explorations beyond the Mimika—Leeches—Floods on
the Tuaba River—Overflowing Rivers—The Wataikwa—Cutting a
Track_ 169
CHAPTER XIV
_The Camp at the Wataikwa River—Malay Coolies—“Amok”—A
Double Murder—A View of the Snow Mountains—Felling
Trees—Floods—Village washed Away—The Wettest Season—The
Effects of Floods—Beri-beri—Arrival of C. Grant—Departure
of W. Goodfellow_ 184
CHAPTER XV
_Pygmies visit Parimau—Description of Tapiro
Pygmies—Colour—Hair—Clothing—Ornaments—Netted Bags—Flint
Knives—Bone Daggers—Sleeping Mats—Fire Stick—Method
of making Fire—Cultivation of Tobacco—Manner of
Smoking—Bows and Arrows—Village of the Pygmies—Terraced
Ground—Houses on Piles—Village Headman—Our Efforts
to see the Women—Language and Voices—Their
Intelligence—Counting—Their Geographical Distribution_ 196
CHAPTER XVI
_Communication with Amboina and Merauke—Sail in the
“Valk” to the Utakwa River—Removal of the Dutch
Expedition—View of Mount Carstensz—Dugongs—Crowded
Ship—Dayaks and Live Stock—Sea-Snakes—Excitable
Convicts—The Island River—Its Great Size—Another Dutch
Expedition—Their Achievements—Houses in the Trees—Large
Village—Barn-like Houses—Naked People—Shooting Lime—Their
Skill in Paddling—Through the Marianne Straits—An
Extract from Carstensz—Merauke—Trade in Copra—Botanic
Station—The Mission—The Ké Island Boat-builders—The
Natives of Merauke described—Arrival of our Third Batch
of Coolies—The Feast of St. Nicholas—Return to Mimika_ 209
CHAPTER XVII
_Difficulty of Cross-country Travel—Expedition moves
towards the Mountains—Arrival at the Iwaka River—Changing
Scenery—The Impassable Iwaka—A Plucky Gurkha—Building a
Bridge—We start into the Mountains—Fording
Rivers—Flowers—Lack of Water on Hillside—Curious
Vegetation—Our highest Point—A wide View—Rare
Birds—Coal—Uninhabitable Country—Dreary Jungle—Rarely any
Beauty—Remarkable Trees—Occasional Compensations_ 229
CHAPTER XVIII
_Departure from Parimau—Parting Gifts—Mock
Lamentation—Rawling explores Kamura River—Start for the
Wania—Lose the Propeller—A Perilous Anchorage—Unpleasant
Night—Leave the Motor Boat—Village of Nimé—Arrival of
“Zwaan” with Dayaks—Their Departure—Waiting for the
Ship—Taking Leave of the People of Wakatimi—Sail from New
Guinea—Ké Islands—Banda—Hospitality of the Netherlands
Government—Lieutenant Cramer—Sumbawa—Bali—Return to
Singapore and England—One or two Reflexions_ 246
APPENDIX A
_Notes on the Birds collected by the B.O.U Expedition to
Dutch New Guinea. By W. R. Ogilvie-Grant_ 263
APPENDIX B
_The Pygmy Question. By Dr. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S._ 303
APPENDIX C
_Notes on Languages in the East of Netherlands New
Guinea. By Sidney H. Ray, M.A._ 322
INDEX 347
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
(_Except where it is otherwise stated, the illustrations are from
photographs by the Author._)
A TAPIRO PYGMY _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE MIMIKA RIVER 4
A CONVICT COOLY OF THE DUTCH ESCORT 12
A MALAY COOLY FROM BUTON 12
DOBO, ARU ISLANDS 20
CAMP OF THE EXPEDITION AT WAKATIMI (Photo by C. G. RAWLING
and E. S. MARSHALL) 48
A HOUSE FOR CEREMONIES, MIMIKA (Photo by C. G. RAWLING and
E. S. MARSHALL) 48
MAKING CANOES 50
CANOES, FINISHED AND UNFINISHED 54
MAKING “ATAP” FOR ROOFING 60
PAPUAN WOMAN CANOEING UP THE MIMIKA 64
JANGBIR AND HERKAJIT, (Photo by C. G. RAWLING
and E. S. MARSHALL) 68
HAULING CANOES UP THE MIMIKA 70
TYPICAL PAPUANS OF MIMIKA 74
UPPER WATERS OF THE KAPARE RIVER 82
VEGETATION ON THE BANKS OF THE KAPARE RIVER 86
PAPUAN WOMAN CARRYING WOODEN BOWL OF SAGO 90
PAPUAN HOUSES ON THE MIMIKA 96
PAPUAN OF THE MIMIKA 100
PAPUAN OF THE MIMIKA 100
A PAPUAN MOTHER AND CHILD 106
CICATRIZATION (Photo by C. G. RAWLING and E. S. MARSHALL) 112
PAPUAN WITH FACE WHITENED WITH SAGO POWDER 112
WOMEN OF WAKATIMI 114
PAPUAN WOMAN AND CHILD 120
A PAPUAN OF MIMIKA 128
A PAPUAN OF MIMIKA 134
DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD: A COFFIN ON TRESTLES 139
SPLITTING WOOD WITH STONE AXE, (Photo by C. G. RAWLING and
E. S. MARSHALL) 148
A TRIBUTARY STREAM OF THE KAPARE RIVER 159
TYPICAL JUNGLE, MIMIKA RIVER 178
AT THE EDGE OF THE JUNGLE 182
CAMP OF THE EXPEDITION AT PARIMAU 184
THE CAMP AT PARIMAU: A PRECAUTION AGAINST FLOODS 188
THE MIMIKA AT PARIMAU: LOW WATER 190
THE SAME IN FLOOD 190
A TAPIRO PYGMY 196
MAKING FIRE (1) 200
MAKING FIRE (2) 202
WAMBERI MERBIRI 204
A HOUSE OF THE TAPIRO 206
MOUNT TAPIRO FROM THE VILLAGE OF THE PYGMIES 208
TYPES OF TAPIRO PYGMIES 212
A PAPUAN WITH TWO TAPIRO 216
NATIVES OF MERAUKE 226
LOOKING UP THE MIMIKA FROM PARIMAU 232
BRIDGE MADE BY THE EXPEDITION ACROSS THE IWAKA RIVER 234
LOOKING WEST FROM ABOVE THE IWAKA (Photo by C. H. B. GRANT) 238
COCKSCOMB MOUNTAIN SEEN FROM MT. GODMAN (Photo by C. G.
RAWLING and E. S. MARSHALL) 238
SUPPORTS OF A PANDANUS 242
BUTTRESSED TREES 246
SCREW PINES (PANDANUS) 250
AT SUMBAWA PESAR 252
NEAR BULELING 256
COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS
(_from Drawings by G. C. Shortridge_)
CARVED WOODEN CLUBS AND STONE CLUBS 36
HEAD-DRESSES, WORN AT CEREMONIES 78
STONE AXE, HEAD-RESTS AND DRUMS 142
BLADES OF PADDLES, AND BAMBOO PENIS-CASES 144
BOW, ARROWS AND SPEARS 150
ORNAMENTS OF PAPUANS 222
MAPS
A LANGUAGE MAP OF NETHERLANDS NEW GUINEA 342
MAP OF THE DISTRICT VISITED BY THE EXPEDITION _at End_
INTRODUCTION
The wonderful fauna of New Guinea, especially the marvellous forms
of Bird- and Insect-life to be found there, have long attracted the
attention of naturalists in all parts of the world. The exploration
of this vast island during recent years has brought to light many
extraordinary and hitherto unknown forms, more particularly new Birds
of Paradise and Gardener Bower-Birds; but until recently the central
portion was still entirely unexplored, though no part of the globe
promised to yield such an abundance of zoological treasures to those
prepared to face the difficulties of penetrating to the great ranges of
the interior.
The B.O.U. Expedition, of which the present work is the official
record, originated in the following manner. For many years past I had
been trying to organise an exploration of the Snow Mountains, but
the reported hostility of the natives in the southern part of Dutch
New Guinea and the risks attending such an undertaking, rendered the
chances of success too small to justify the attempt.
It was in 1907 that Mr. Walter Goodfellow, well-known as an experienced
traveller and an accomplished naturalist, informed me that he
believed a properly equipped expedition might meet with success, and
I entered into an arrangement with him to lead a small zoological
expedition to explore the Snow Mountains. It so happened, however,
that by the time our arrangements had been completed in December,
1908, the members of the British Ornithologists’ Union, founded in
1858, were celebrating their Jubilee, and it seemed fitting that
they should mark so memorable an occasion by undertaking some great
zoological exploration. I therefore laid my scheme for exploring
the Snow Mountains before the meeting, and suggested that it should
be known as the Jubilee Expedition of the B.O.U., a proposal which
was received with enthusiasm. A Committee was formed, consisting of
Mr. F. du Cane Godman, F.R.S. (President of the B.O.U.), Dr. P. L.
Sclater, F.R.S. (Editor of the _Ibis_), Mr. E. G. B. Meade-Waldo, Mr.
W. R. Ogilvie-Grant (Secretary), and Mr. C. E. Fagan (Treasurer). At
the request of the Royal Geographical Society it was decided that
their interests should also be represented, and that a surveyor and
an assistant-surveyor, to be selected by the Committee, should be
added, the Society undertaking to contribute funds for that purpose.
The expedition thus became a much larger one than had been originally
contemplated and included:—
Mr. Walter Goodfellow (Leader),
Mr. Wilfred Stalker and Mr. Guy C. Shortridge (Collectors
of Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, etc.),
Mr. A. F. R. Wollaston (Medical Officer to the
Expedition, Entomologist, and Botanist),
Capt. C. G. Rawling, C.I.E. (Surveyor),
Dr. Eric Marshall (Assistant-Surveyor and Surgeon).
To meet the cost of keeping such an expedition in the field for at
least a year it was necessary to raise a large sum of money, and this
I was eventually able to do, thanks chiefly to a liberal grant from
His Majesty’s Government, and to the generosity of a number of private
subscribers, many of whom were members of the B.O.U. The total sum
raised amounted to over £9000, and though it is impossible to give here
the names of all those who contributed, I would especially mention the
following:—
S. G. Asher,
E. J. Brook,
J. Stewart Clark,
Col. Stephenson Clarke,
Sir Jeremiah Colman,
H. J. Elwes,
F. du Cane Godman,
Sir Edward Grey,
J. H. Gurney,
Sir William Ingram,
Lord Iveagh,
Mrs. Charles Jenkinson,
E. J. Johnstone,
Campbell D. Mackellar,
G. A. Macmillan,
Mrs. H. A. Powell,
H. C. Robinson,
Lord Rothschild,
Hon. L. Walter Rothschild,
Hon. N. Charles Rothschild,
Baron and Baroness James A. de Rothschild,
P. L. Sclater,
P. K. Stothert,
Oldfield Thomas,
E. G. B. Meade-Waldo,
Rowland Ward,
The Proprietors of _Country Life_,
The Royal Society,
The Royal Geographical Society,
The Zoological Society of London.
The organization and equipment of this large expedition caused
considerable delay and it was not until September, 1909, that the
members sailed from England for the East. Meanwhile the necessary
steps were taken to obtain the consent of the Netherlands Government
to allow the proposed expedition to travel in Dutch New Guinea and
to carry out the scheme of exploration. Not only was this permission
granted, thanks to the kindly help of Sir Edward Grey and the British
Minister at the Hague, but the Government of Holland showed itself
animated with such readiness to assist the expedition that it supplied
not only an armed guard at its own expense, but placed a gunboat at
the disposal of the Committee to convey the party from Batavia to New
Guinea.
On behalf of the Committee I would again take this opportunity of
publicly expressing their most grateful thanks to the Netherlands
Government for these and many other substantial acts of kindness,
which were shown to the members of the expedition. The Peninsular and
Oriental Steam Navigation Company did all in their power to further
the interests of the expedition, and to them the Committee is very
specially indebted. To the proprietors of _Country Life_ the thanks
of the Committee are also due for the interest and sympathy they have
displayed towards the expedition and for the assistance they have given
in helping to raise funds to carry on the work in the field.
In various numbers of _Country Life_, issued between the 16th of April,
1910, and the 20th of May, 1911, a series of ten articles will be found
in which I contributed a general account of New Guinea, and mentioned
some of the more important discoveries made by the members of the
expedition during their attempts to penetrate to the Snow Mountains.
In Appendix A to the present volume will be found a general account of
the ornithological results. A detailed report will appear elsewhere, as
also, it is hoped, a complete account of the zoological work done by
the expedition.
As the reader will learn from Mr. Wollaston’s book, the great physical
difficulties of this unexplored part of New Guinea and other unforeseen
circumstances rendered the work of the B.O.U. Expedition quite
exceptionally arduous; and if the results of their exploration are
not all that had been hoped, it must be remembered that they did all
that was humanly possible to carry out the dangerous task with which
they had been entrusted. Their work has added vastly to our knowledge
of this part of New Guinea, and though little collecting was done
above 4000 feet, quite a number of new, and, in many cases, remarkably
interesting forms were obtained.
There can be no doubt that when the higher ranges between 5000 and
10,000 feet are explored, many other novelties will be discovered
and for this reason it has been thought advisable to postpone the
publication of the scientific results of the B.O.U. Expedition until
such time as the second expedition under Mr. Wollaston has returned in
1913.
The death of Mr. Wilfred Stalker at a very early period of the
expedition was a sad misfortune and his services could ill be spared;
his place was, however, very ably filled by Mr. Claude H. B. Grant, who
arrived in New Guinea some six months later.
As all those who have served on committees must know, most of the work
falls on one or two individuals, and I should like here to express
the thanks which we owe to our Treasurer, Mr. C. E. Fagan, for the
admirable way in which he has carried out his very difficult task.
W. R. OGILVIE-GRANT.
PYGMIES AND PAPUANS
PYGMIES AND PAPUANS
CHAPTER I
_The British Ornithologists’ Union—Members of the
Expedition—Voyage to Java—Choice of Rivers—Prosperity
of Java—Half-castes—Obsequious Javanese—The
Rijst-tafel—Customs of the Dutch—Buitenzorg
Garden—Garoet._
In the autumn of 1858 a small party of naturalists, most of them
members of the University of Cambridge and their friends and all of
them interested in the study of ornithology, met in the rooms of the
late Professor Alfred Newton at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and
agreed to found a society with the principal object of producing a
quarterly Journal of general ornithology. The Journal was called “The
Ibis,” and the Society adopted the name of British Ornithologists’
Union, the number of members being originally limited to twenty.
In the autumn of 1908 the Society, which by that time counted four
hundred and seventy members, adopted the suggestion, made by Mr. W.
R. Ogilvie-Grant, of celebrating its jubilee by sending an expedition
to explore, chiefly from an ornithological point of view, the unknown
range of Snow Mountains in Dutch New Guinea. A Committee, whose
Chairman was Mr. F. D. Godman, F.R.S., President and one of the
surviving original members of the Society, was appointed to organise
the expedition, and subscriptions were obtained from members and their
friends. The remote destination of the expedition aroused a good deal
of public interest. The Royal Geographical Society expressed a desire
to share in the enterprise, and it soon became evident that it would
be a mistake to limit the object of the expedition to the pursuit
of birds only. Mr. Walter Goodfellow, a naturalist who had several
times travelled in New Guinea as well as in other parts of the world,
was appointed leader of the expedition. Mr. W. Stalker and Mr. G. C.
Shortridge, both of whom had had wide experience of collecting in the
East, were appointed naturalists. Capt. C. G. Rawling, C.I.E., 13th
Somersetshire Light Infantry, who had travelled widely in Tibet and
mapped a large area of unknown territory in that region, was appointed
surveyor, with Mr. E. S. Marshall, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., who had just
returned from the “Furthest South” with Sir E. H. Shackleton, as
assistant surveyor and surgeon; and the present writer, who had been
medical officer, botanist, and entomologist on the Ruwenzori Expedition
of 1906-7, undertook the same duties as before.
Prolonged correspondence between the Foreign Office and the Dutch
Government resulted, thanks largely to the personal interest of Sir
Edward Grey and Lord Acton, British Chargé d’Affaires at the Hague, in
permission being granted to the expedition to land in Dutch New Guinea
on or after January 1, 1910. The date of landing was postponed by the
Government until January in order that there might be no interference
with the expedition of Mr. H. A. Lorentz, who it was hoped would be
the first to reach the snow in New Guinea by way of the Noord River, a
project which he successfully accomplished in the month of November,
1909.
[Sidenote: VOYAGE TO JAVA]
On October 29th four of us sailed from Marseilles in the P. & O. S.S.
_Marmora_. Mr. Stalker and Mr. Shortridge, who had already proceeded
to the East, joined us later at Batavia and Amboina respectively. At
Singapore we found the ten Gurkhas, ex-military police, who had been
engaged for the expedition by the recruiting officer at Darjiling;
though some of these men were useless for the work they had to do, the
others did invaluable service as will be seen later. We left Singapore
on November 26th, and as we passed through the narrow Riou Straits we
saw the remains of the French mail steamer _La Seyne_, which had been
wrecked there with appalling loss of life a few days earlier. It was
believed that scores of persons were devoured by sharks within a few
minutes of the accident happening. Two days’ steaming in the Dutch
packet brought us to Batavia in Java, the city of the Government of the
Netherlands East Indies.
We had hoped that our ten Gurkhas would be sufficient escort for the
expedition and that we could do without the escort of native soldiers
offered to us by the Dutch Government, but the local authorities
decided that the escort was necessary and they appointed to command it
Lieutenant H. A. Cramer of the Infantry, a probationer on the Staff of
the Dutch East Indian Army. The Government also undertook to transport
the whole expedition, men, stores, and equipment, from Java to New
Guinea. The undertaking was a most generous one as the voyage from
Batavia by mail steamer to Dobo in the Aru Islands would have been
most costly, and from there we should have been obliged to charter a
special steamer to convey the expedition to the shores of New Guinea.
When we left England we had the intention of approaching the Snow
Mountains by way of the Utakwa River, which was the only river shown
by the maps obtainable at that time approaching the mountains. After
a consultation with the Military and Geographical Departments at
Batavia it was decided that, owing to the bad accounts which had been
received of the Utakwa River and the comparatively favourable reports
of the Mimika River, the latter should be chosen as the point of our
entry into the country. This decision, though we little suspected it
at the time, effectually put an end to our chance of reaching the Snow
Mountains.
During the month of December, while stores were being accumulated,
and the steamer was being prepared for our use, we had leisure to
visit, and in the case of some of us to revisit, some of the most
interesting places in Java. A large German ship filled with fourteen
hundred American tourists arrived at Batavia whilst we were there,
and the passengers “did” Java, apparently to their satisfaction, in
forty-eight hours. But a tourist with more time could find occupation
for as many days and still leave much to be seen. Germans and Americans
outnumber English visitors by nearly fifty to one, and it is to be
deplored that Englishmen do not go there in larger numbers, for they
would see in Java, not to mention the beauty of its scenery, perhaps
the most successful tropical dependency in the world, a vast monument
to the genius of Sir Stamford Raffles, who laid the foundation of its
prosperity less than one hundred years ago.
[Illustration: NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE MIMIKA RIVER.]
[Sidenote: PROSPERITY OF JAVA]
Some idea of the progress which has been made may be learnt from the
fact that, whereas at the beginning of the last century the population
numbered about four millions, there are to-day nearly ten times
that number. Wherever you go you see excellent roads, clean, and
well-ordered villages and a swarming peasant population, quiet and
industrious and apparently contented with their lot.
There are between thirty and forty volcanoes in the island, many of
them active, and the soil is extraordinarily rich and productive, three
crops in the rice districts being harvested in rather less than two
years. So fertile is the land that in many places the steepest slopes
of the hills have been brought under cultivation by an ingenious system
of terracing and irrigation in such a way that the higher valleys
present the appearance of great amphitheatres rising tier above tier
of brilliantly green young rice plants or of drooping yellow heads of
ripening grain. The tea plantations and the fields of sugar-cane in
Central Java not less than the rice-growing districts impress one with
the unceasing industry of the people and the inexhaustible wealth of
the island.
One of the features of life in the Dutch East Indies, which first
strikes the attention of an English visitor, is the difference in
the relation between Europeans and natives from those which usually
obtain in British possessions as shown by the enormous number of
half-castes. Whilst we were still at Batavia the feast of the Eve of
St. Nicholas, which takes the place of our Christmas, occurred. In the
evening the entire “white” population indulged in a sort of carnival;
the main streets and restaurants were crowded, bands played and
carriages laden with parents and their children drove slowly through
the throng. The spectacle, a sort of “trooping of the colours,” was a
most interesting one to the onlooker, for one saw often in the same
family children showing every degree of colour from the fairest Dutch
hair and complexion to the darkest Javanese. It is easy to understand
how this strong mixture of races has come about, when one learns that
Dutchmen who come out to the East Indies, whether as civilian or
military officials or as business men, almost invariably stay for ten
years without returning to Europe. They become in that time more firmly
attached to the country than is the case in colonies where people go
home at shorter intervals, and it is not uncommon to meet Dutchmen who
have not returned to Holland for thirty or forty years. It is not the
custom to send children back to Europe when they reach the school age;
there are excellent government schools in all the larger towns, and it
often happens that men and women grow up and marry who have never been
to Europe in their lives. Thus it can be seen how a large half-caste
population is likely to be formed. The half-castes do not, as in
British India, form a separate caste, but are regarded as Europeans,
and there are many instances of men having more or less of native blood
in their veins reaching the highest civilian and military rank.
[Sidenote: THE RIJST-TAFEL]
One or two curious relics of former times, which the visitor to Java
notices, are worth recording because they show the survival of a spirit
that has almost completely disappeared from our own dominions. When a
European walks, or as is more usual, drives along the country roads,
the natives whom he meets remove their hats from their heads and their
loads from their shoulders and crouch humbly by the roadside. Again,
on the railways the ticket examiner approaches with a suppliant air
and begs to see your ticket, while he holds out his right hand for it
grasping his right wrist with his left hand. In former times when a man
held out his right hand to give or take something from you his left
hand was free to stab you with his _kris_. Nowadays only a very few
privileged natives in Java are allowed to carry the _kris_.
Another very noticeable feature of life in the Dutch East Indies, which
immediately attracts the attention of a stranger, is the astonishing
number of excessively corpulent Europeans. If you travel in the morning
in the steam tramcar which runs from the residential part of Batavia
to the business quarter of the town, you will see as many noticeably
stout men as you will see in the City of London in a year, or, as I
was credibly informed, as you will see in the city of Amsterdam in a
month. It is fairly certain that this unhealthy state of body of a
large number of Europeans may be attributed to the institution of the
Rijst-tafel, the midday meal of a large majority of the Dutchmen in the
East.
This custom is so remarkable that it is worth while to give a
description of it. The foundation of the meal, as its name implies, is
rice. You sit at table with a soup plate in front of you, a smaller
flat plate beside it and a spoon, a knife and a fork. The first servant
brings a large bowl of rice from which you help yourself liberally. The
second brings a kind of vegetable stew which you pour over the heap of
rice. Then follows a remarkable procession; I have myself seen at an
hotel in Batavia fourteen different boys bringing as many different
dishes, and I have seen stalwart Teutons taking samples from every
dish. These boys bring fish of various sorts and of various cookeries,
bones of chickens cooked in different ways and eggs of various ages,
and last of all comes a boy bearing a large tray covered with many
different kinds of chutneys and sauces from which the connoisseur
chooses three or four. The more solid and bony portions find a space on
the small flat plate, the others are piled in the soup plate upon the
rice. As an experience once or twice the Rijst-tafel is interesting;
but as a daily custom it is an abomination. Even when, as in private
houses, the number of dishes is perhaps not more than three or four,
the main foundation of the meal is a solid pile of rice, which is
not at all a satisfactory diet for Europeans. The Rijst-tafel is not
a traditional native custom but a modern innovation, and there is a
tendency among the more active members of the community to replace it
by a more rational meal.
[Sidenote: CUSTOMS OF THE DUTCH]
The houses of the Europeans are of the bungalow type with high-pitched
roofs of red tiles and surrounded by wide verandahs, which are actually
the living rooms of the house. The Dutch are good gardeners and are
particularly fond of trees, which they plant close about their houses
and so ensure a pleasant shade, though they harbour rather more
mosquitoes and other insects than is pleasant. In strange contrast
with the scrupulous cleanliness of the houses and the tidiness of the
streets, you will see in Batavia a state of things which it is hard to
reconcile with the usual commonsense of the Dutch. Through the middle
of the town runs a canalised river of red muddy water, partly sewer and
partly bathing place and so on of the natives, and in it are washed all
the clothes of the population, both native and European. Your clothes
return to you white enough, but you put them on with certain qualms
when you remember whence they came. The town has an excellent supply of
pure water, and it is astonishing that the authorities do not put an
end to this most insanitary practice.
Dutch people in the East Indies have modified their habits, especially
in the matter of clothing, to suit the requirements of the climate, and
while they have to some extent sacrificed elegance to comfort, their
costume is at all events more rational than that of many Englishmen
in the East, who cling too affectionately to the fashions of Europe
and often wear too much clothing. The men, who do the greater part of
the day’s work between seven in the morning and one o’clock, wear a
plain white suit of cotton or linen. The afternoon is spent in taking
a siesta and at about five o’clock they go to their clubs or other
amusements in the same sort of attire as in the morning. The ladies,
except in the larger towns where European dress is the custom, appear
in public during the greater part of the day in a curiously simple
costume. The upper part of the body is clothed in a short white cotton
jacket, below which the coloured native _sarong_ extends midway down
the leg. Low slippers are worn on bare feet, the hair hangs undressed
down the back and the costume is usually completed by an umbrella. It
must be admitted that the effect is not ornamental, but the costume is
doubtless cool and comfortable, and it prevents any risk there might be
of injury to the health from wearing an excessive amount of clothing.
They appear more conventionally dressed about five o’clock, when the
social business of the day begins. The ladies pay calls while the men
meet at the club and play cards until an uncomfortably late dinner at
about nine o’clock.
[Sidenote: BOTANIC GARDEN]
About an hour’s journey by railway from Batavia is the hill station of
Buitenzorg. Although it is hardly more than eight hundred feet above
the sea the climate is noticeably cooler (the mean annual temperature
is 75°), and one feels immediately more vigorous than down in the low
country. The palace of the Governor General, formerly the house of
Sir Stamford Raffles, stands at the edge of the Botanic Garden, which
alone, even if you saw nothing else, would justify a visit to Java.
Plants from all the Tropics grow there in the best possible conditions,
and you see them to advantage as you never can in their natural forest
surroundings, where the trunks of the trees are obscured by a tangle
of undergrowth. Every part of the garden is worth exploring, but one
of the most curious and interesting sections is the collection of
Screw-pines (_Pandanus_) and Cycads, which have a weirdly antediluvian
appearance. Another very beautiful sight is the ponds of Water-lilies
from different parts of the world. The native gardener in charge
of them informed me that the different species have different and
definite hours for the opening and closing of their flowers. I tested
his statement in two instances and found the flowers almost exactly
punctual. There was no cloud in the sky nor appearance of any change in
the weather, and the reason for this behaviour is not easy to explain.
At Sindanglaya in the mountains a few miles distant is an offshoot
from the Buitenzorg garden, where plants of a more temperate climate
flourish, and experiments are made on plants of economic value to the
country.
A few hours’ journey east from Buitenzorg is Garoet (2,300 feet above
the sea), which lies in a beautiful fertile valley surrounded by
forest-covered mountains. The climate is an almost ideal one, the
nights are cool and the days are not too hot. A very remarkable feature
of the country about Garoet is the great flocks, or rather droves, of
ducks which you meet being driven along the roads from the villages to
their pastures in the rice fields. These ducks differ from the ordinary
domestic duck in their extraordinary erect attitude, from which they
have been well called Penguin ducks. Whether their upright posture
is due to their walking or not I do not know, but they are excellent
walkers and are sometimes driven long distances to their feeding
grounds. When a duck is tired and lags behind, the boy who herds them
picks it up by the neck, and you may sometimes see him walking along
with a bunch of two or three ducks in either hand.
Others of our party visited Djokjakarta and the Buddhist Temples of
Boro-Boder in Central Java and the mountain resort of Tosari in the
volcanic region of Eastern Java. Tosari is more than five thousand feet
above the sea, and is of great value to the Dutch as a sanatorium for
soldiers and civilians from all parts of the Archipelago. The rainfall
is comparatively scanty and the climate is like that of Southern Europe
at its best.
[Illustration: A CONVICT COOLY OF THE DUTCH ESCORT.]
[Illustration: A MALAY COOLY FROM BUTON.]